Lifestyles

Creative ideas sought for 2014 Broomfield Days poster

Deadline to sign up for annual contest is Friday

PAST WINNER: Dianna Wilson holds the watercolor that won last year's Broomfield Days poster contest. The deadline to submit entry forms and fees for this year's contest is Friday. Works must be dropped off at the Brunner Farmhouse July 21-25. (David R. Jennings / Enterprise file photo)

Entries and fee: Participants can enter up to three original works. Fee is $10 per entry for BCAH members, $15 per entry for non-members. Entry forms at artsinbroomfield.org

Deadline: Forms and fees due by Friday. Mail forms and check to Broomfield Council on the Arts and Humanities, P.O. Box 681, Broomfield, CO, 80038. Art must be dropped off between 9 and 11 a.m. July 21-25 at Brunner Farmhouse, 640 Main St.

Reception: For artists to announce winner from 6 to 7 p.m. July 29 at Brunner Farmhouse. Broomfield Days will be Sept. 20.

New and returning artists alike are invited to flex their creative muscles and dig deep into their imagination to create this year's Broomfield Days poster.

The annual poster contest, sponsored by the Broomfield Council on the Arts and Humanities, is seeking entries. Artists can sign up to participate through Friday. The winning entry will be used as the official Broomfield Days poster, and the sale of the limited-edition posters will raise money for nonprofit BCAH.

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Organizers hope the poster contest will draw new artists who will bring their creativity and spirit to this year's contest theme: "Small Town Friendly, Large Town Opportunity."

"I'm encouraging a lot of people to enter, and I'm really promoting the contest to all of my fellow artists," said Dianna Wilson, last year's poster contest winner.

Wilson used eye-popping colors for last year's theme of "Celebrating the Arts in Broomfield." The 2013 poster, which depicted silhouettes of dancers and musicians, was the second of Wilson's works to win the the contest.

Wilson said she is not entering this year, because she wants to make room for new and up-and-coming artists who want to lend their creative vision to the Broomfield Days poster.

Wilson, a member of the Broomfield Art Guild, said it is important to get as many artists involved as possible.

Contestants can enter up to three pieces of art using water media, pastel, oil, acrylic or mixed media. Art featuring fluorescent colors, photography or computer-generated images will not be accepted, because those mediums do not reproduce well for the posters.

Anyone can submit entries, and do not have to be Broomfield residents to participate.

In past years, artists have submitted joyful images of children playing, detailed sketches of classic cars and images of well-known Broomfield landmarks, such as the Brunner Farmhouse and the Depot Museum.

Kristin Bueb, a BCAH board member, said the board is excited to see what the community comes up with this year. In past years, the poster entries have ranged from soft watercolor landscapes to bold mixed media murals.

"We'd love to see a whole lot of submissions, and we want to get the word out there that this contest is open to everybody," she said.

The BCAH board members, who serve as judges for the contest, have been delighted with past entries, she said.

"Artists are getting really creative," she said.

Last year, seven artists submitted 10 poster entries, which was a lower turnout than some past years. Bueb hopes there will be more entries this year.

Cheryl German, of Broomfield Cultural Affairs, said all of the 2014 contest entries will be on display at the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library, starting in early August. The display will be up for about a month, so the public can see the diverse art entries.

The library also has copies of winning Broomfield Days posters from past years, which are hung throughout the library, she said.

The poster contest is a longtime Broomfield tradition.

Local couple Joe and Carol Dankey organized and financed the contest for 20 years, then passed it along to Broomfield in 2008. The city managed the contest for a year before handing it over to BCAH.

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